Israel Business Today back issues from July 2000:
Income Tax Reform In Israel.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Most Israelis breathed a sigh of relief as Amir Peretz the head of the Histadrut Labor Federation of Israel announced that the Finance Minister had informed him that he would not implement parts of the income tax reform recommended by the Ben-Bassat committee. The reform had been on a ...
Kibbutzim.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... * Kibbutzim, where once egalitarianism reigned, are not what they use to be. Unfortunately along with the rest of Israel, these rural centers of Israeli life are under going big economic and social changes. Privatization, a word once as far away from a kibbutzim's lexicon as the moon, has ...
Summertime.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... * Summertime means vacation time, and for most people taking a long distance trip it also means renting a car. Below are some do's and don't for renting a car that apply for those renting cars in Israel and abroad. Paying attention to these points can make your trip more pleasant, and ...
Economic Reality.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Every time the Prime Minister pats himself on the back for the economic achievements that have ostensibly been made since he took office a year ago, I am once again forced to ask myself if he is living in the same country as I am. Economic achievements are not based on wishful thinking, ...
Electronics Industries Association Wants Work Permits For 10,000 Foreign Employees.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... The Electronics Industries Association has come to the conclusion that their pleas for work permits, allowing ten thousand foreign workers to enter Israel to work in the electronics industry, are falling on deaf ears. In order to change the pitch, the association is suggesting that ...
Increase In Illegal Foreign Household Workers.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... During the last year illegal foreign workers employed in Israeli households have increased from 40,000 to 50,000. Most of these workers are from the Philippines, South America and Africa. There are approximately 250,000 foreign workers in Israel and 100,000 are illegal. Foreign workers are ...
Ben-Gurion 2000 Airport Project Damages Surrounding Property.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Owners of property surrounding Ben-Gurion Airport are claiming the expansion of the airport has caused them more than NIS 2 billion in lost property value, Under the Ben-Gurion 2000 project new runways are being built, others expanded, approach roads widened and terminals constructed. The ...
Compulsory Car Insurance Deregulated.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Economic reform in Israel gained another step forward as the government announced that compulsory car insurance would be deregulated and opened to competition starting from January 1, 2001. Under the new law additional companies will be able to enter this insurance market, breaking the ...
Proposed Tax Changes For High Tech Companies.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... If the Ben-Bassat tax reform proposals have not caused the economy enough confusion, now the Finance Ministry is set to bring additional economic proposals to the Knesset concerning high tech companies operating in Israel. These proposals according to the Ministry, are intended to ease the ...
Research Shows Education Is The Key To Lower Unemployment.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... The widely held assumption that more education means lower unemployment was further proven by a report from the research department of the Bank of Israel. The statistical data showed that for each year of additional schooling by those entering the job market in Israel, more education ...
Israel Hosts Top Level Indian Economic Mission.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... A high-powered business delegation led by Mr. Jyodi Basu, the chief Minister of West Bengal India visited Israel in mid July 2000. The West Bengal Region of India (including Calcutta) is interested in promoting economic contacts with Israeli companies in agricultural and commercial ...
Israel Will Get Tough Against Money Laundering.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Legislation against money laundering in Israel will soon become law. Led by the United Sates, the organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) together with the G-7 group is pressing Israel along with 15 other countries-to enact laws to stop money laundering. A G-7 ...
Caesarea Economic Conference Comes And Goes.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... The Caesarea economic conference which is supposed to be Israel's premiere economic event of the year came in like a mouse, and left the same way. This year's conference held in Nazareth at the end of June 2000 was so uneventful that it made no headlines anywhere. Traditionally the ...
Israel's Internet Infrastructure Companies Continue Moving Into The Japanese Market.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... eMation, an Israeli company that is a market leader in internet infrastructure solutions that enable companies to unlock the e-value of their products and services, announced that it has established eMation KK, a Japanese subsidiary. In recognition that Japan is the world's second largest ...
Israel's Economic Success Makes US Aid Money Welcome, But No Longer A Necessity.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... When former Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke before a joint session of the American congress in 1996 he vowed to phase out the $1.2 billion in economic aid that Israel was receiving from the United States. He received loud applause from the American lawmakers who know how unpopular ...
The Price Of Foreign Currency.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Israelis are in the midst of their vacation plans and tourists are coming to Israel in increasing numbers. Both of these events mean a flood of foreign currency leaving and entering the country. Israeli banks have long made fat profits on exchanging foreign currency and also by adding all ...
The Government Opposes Bill To Cancel V.A.T. For First Time Apartment Buyers.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... The government is against a bill that would permit people buying their first apartment, costing $120,000 or less, an exemption from value added tax (V.A.T.). Despite government efforts, the bill recently passed its first reading in the Knesset and if it can survive its final two votes, ...
Foreign Investment In Stocks Increases.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... During the first five months of this year foreigners purchased Israeli stocks on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange for a total of $3.2 billion. This, in comparison to the first five months of 1999, is four times more than foreigners invested last year. One of the major reasons for the big ...
Motivated People Are As Important To High Tech As University Diplomas.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... The establishment has hardly done anything about retraining any of the more than 200,000 unemployed Israelis for high-tech jobs. This is the only sector of the Israeli economy that is producing new jobs and that has a chance to make a quick dent in Israel's high unemployment rate ....
Israeli Companies Selling To Argentina Have A Friend.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Israeli companies wishing to sell to Argentina are often held back by Argentina's lack of credit to finance deals. Israeli exporters to Argentina will be happy to learn they now have a friend at Bank Leumi Israel. The Israeli bank has extended a credit line of $100 million to finance ...
Alcatel Has No Comment About Possible Acquisition Rumors Involving Israeli High Tech Company.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... The French high tech company Alcatel would neither confirm nor deny rumors that it is getting ready to acquire an Israeli high tech telecommunication company. Israeli high tech companies are considered among the leaders in new telecommunication technology and with the competition in Europe ...
Australian Businessmen Join Forces With Some Of Israel's Best Known Names.(Meteq company)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Well known Israeli personalities like Gad Ya'acobi the former Israeli UN Ambassador, Moshe Shahal the former Police Minister and Amos Ron former director general of the Energy Ministry have joined together with Australian businessmen Kim Jacobs, Andrew Cohen, and John Greeves to set up ...
Clal Putting More Money Into Venture Capital Funds.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Clal Industries chairman of the board of directors - Mr. Leon Recanati announced that due to the success of the company's two major venture capital funds, Infinity and Millennium, Clal will be establishing follow-up funds. The new funds will be managed by Clal executives who will ...
Israeli Companies Win Orders For Satellites.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Israeli companies opened up a new industry in the country when a group of companies including Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), El-Op. Elbit Systems, and Rafael joined together and won orders to sell civilian-military intelligence gathering satellites to Singapore and Turkey. The ...
Solomon Capital Markets Starts Operations.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... A new day trading mutual fund, Solomon Capital Markets has raised $8.5 million from the public and has started operations in Israel. The fund will be traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) and is the first of its kind to be listed on the exchange. The fund's managers will engage in ...
A Company To Watch.(Red Carpet)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Five month old Red Carpet is an Israeli company that has developed technology that facilitates real time events on the internet that draws a mass audience of concurrent users. The company has received $2 million in venture capital funding from investors including the Shamrock group and is ...
More Companies Want To Go Public.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... During the first half of the year 2000, 130 prospectuses were filed by companies seeking to go public on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The Israeli securities Authority reported that this is more than a fourfold increase over last year's requests for the same period, when only 30 companies ...
Israel Aircraft Industries Selected For F-5B Avionics Upgrade Program In Spain Worth $20 Million.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... The Spanish Air Force has awarded a contract, of 21 million Euro (about $20 million), to Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd. (IAI)/Lahav. The project includes two phases: in the first phase, which was awarded, four prototype aircraft will be upgraded, and in the second phase, the ...
Israeli Venture Capital Fund Expanding To The US.(Veritas)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Veritas, one of Israel's oldest successful venture capital firms is starting the Veritas-2 fund. The company will raise $100 million for the new fund, most of it from Israeli investors. Fund managers plan to invest the money in American and Israeli internet infrastructure, dot.coms and ...
ECI Telecom Wins Again.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... ECI Telecom, Israel's largest telecommunication manufacturer and listed on the Nasdaq Exchange announced that it has won another contract (this one worth $15 million) to supply optical networking equipment to a European country. The announcement of the sale of equipment to the Slovenian ...
ZIM Renews Port Of Savannah Contract.(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Georgia ports Authority (GPO) officials are pleased to announce that ZIM-American Israeli Shipping Company, one of the largest and most successful container shipping companies in the world, has renewed its strategic alliance with the Port of savannah for the next five years. This will ...
Israeli Partnership Will Build A 40-Store Commercial Tower In Warsaw.(Electra Dirum Construction Co.)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... An Israeli partnership (Electra Dirum Construction Company) will build a 40-storey commercial tower costing $70 million in Warsaw, Poland. The tower will include apartments, offices, a shopping mall, restaurants and underground parking. The project will be the biggest investment ever made ...
Philips Invests In Israeli Start-Up Company.(Philips Electronics)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Philips Electronics signed a contract to invest millions of dollars in Metro Light, an Israeli company developing fiber optics for the telecommunication industry and for scientific and industrial equipment. The four year old Israeli start-up company drew the European electronics giant's ...
Vishay May Build Factory In Jordan.(Vishay Intertechnology)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Vishay Intertechnology an American based company that sells electronic components is considering building a plant in Jordan. Until now Vishay has concentrated all of its Middle East manufacturing plants in Israel. The company has four facilities in Israel and employs 4600 workers. Last ...
Shamrock Holdings Interested In Acquiring Another Large Israeli Company.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Shamrock Holdings, the investment company of the American Disney family, which last year purchased Tadiran Communication from Koor Industries for $150 million, is interested in purchasing another large Israeli company in the high tech field. During the year 2000 Shamrock plans to invest an ...
Look Who's Making Investments In Israel.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... A stellar list of American corporate investors have invested a total of $110 million in Israeli based Orion -- AIG Venture Capital Fund. America International Group (AIG), Microsoft, 3Com, PMC Sierra are some of the leading American companies that invested in the fund. AIG Capital Partners ...
Norwegian Company Set To Merge With Israeli Company In $54 Million Share Swap.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... RT-Set, an Israeli company that develops media technology and is listed on Frankfurt's Neuer Markt Stock Exchange announced that Peak Broadcast Systems Ltd. of Norway has agreed to merge with it in a stock swap deal valued at $54 million. After the merger with Peak (expected to be ...
Hong Kong Company To Market Electric Fuel Batteries.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Times Telecom, a major distributor and retailer of cellular telephones in China signed a marketing agreement with Israeli Electric Fuel Company to begin marketing the Israeli company's cellular telephone batteries. The Israeli company has developed a line of long lasting ZincAir disposable ...
HSBC Europe's Largest Bank Will Open A Branch In Israel.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... HSBC - Europe's largest bank -- announced that it is planning to open a branch in Israel. The company's future CEO in Israel Mr. Yehuda Levi is busy establishing the necessary infrastructure and said that everything should be in place for HSBC's opening in Israel at the beginning of 2001, ...
The Public Now Prefers Fixed Rate Mortgages.(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Annual mortgage interest rates in Israel are currently 6-6.5 percent linked to the consumer price index. The mortgage interest rate is unlikely to decrease in the foreseeable future and in fact mortgage banks are reporting customers think mortgage rates will increase during the coming ...
The Ben-Bassat Tax Reform Proposals Led To June Saving Withdrawals Of NIS 1.8 Billion.(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... If the Ben-Bassat tax reform proposal relating to interest income from savings being taxed at 25 percent is instituted, Israeli banks can expect to see many more months like June 2000 in which the public withdrew a net MS 1.8 billion from bank savings plans. Under the reforms, bank ...
Moody's Upgrades Israel's Credit Rating.(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... The world's second most important international credit rating company, Moody's Investors Service, upgraded Israel's credit rating from A-3 to A-2. Improved credit ratings by companies like Moody's means lower interest charges when the State and Israeli companies sell bonds and other ...
If You Don't Succeed Try Again.(Camtek)(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Camtek, an Israeli company that develops automatic optical inspection systems for chip manufactures had to cancel its March 2000 initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq Exchange because of the plunge affecting high tech market. The company at that time had intended to sell 2.8 million ...
Teva Goes For Long Term Loans.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Teva Pharmaceutical industries raised $135 million in the form of a multi currency five-year loan from a syndicate of Israeli and European banks. Sumitomo Bank of Japan along with Deutsche bank of Germany organized the banking syndicate. Citibank of America's London branch and Bank ...
Because Of A One Time Charge, Amdocs Reports A Big Loss For The Second Quarter Of 2000.(Statistical Data Included)
Jul 01, 2000 ... One of Israel's fastest growing high tech companies, Amdocs reported a big loss of $67.2 million for the second quarter of the year 2000. The second quarter loss includes a one-time charge of $118.6 related to the company's acquisition of Solect Technology Group. Revenue for the period ...
IBT Stock Portfolio.(Statistical Data Included)(Column)
Jul 01, 2000 ... The IBT stock portfolio gained almost $3,000 between the June-July issues of the magazine and gave us some hope that it may not be too long before we could see the portfolio return to its original value, and then start to make some money. The Nasdaq Exchange has been hard on high tech ...
Formula Systems Finds The Right Formula.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Formula Systems, an Israeli high tech company trading on both the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and the American Nasdaq Exchange seems to have found the formula that will make investors happy. The company's net income for its first quarter reported in May 2000, soared 67 percent to $40 million ...
It May Be Time To Say Good Bye To Orckit.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... Orckit, a Nasdaq listed Israeli based telecommunication technology company issued an earnings warning that sent the message to us that now may be the time to say good bye to the company. Orckit pre-released that June's quarter results would be below Street expectations. Revenues ...
For The First Half Of The Year 2000 The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Is Ranked As One Of The World's Best Performing Markets.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... World investors who want to capture growth from equities are increasingly being drawn to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE). During the first six months of the year 2000, the TASE was the third best performing exchange in the world. During this period share prices of TASE listed companies ...
TASE Economists Worried That Foreign Investors Will Flee The Exchange If Capital Gains Are Taxed.(Brief Article)
Jul 01, 2000 ... At the end of 1999 foreign investors held 11 percent of the shares traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE). Although for the time being all of the recommendations of the Ben-Bassat tax reform committee have been put on hold because Mr. Barak has no dependable parliamentary majority to ...
SHEKEL FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES.
Jul 01, 2000 ... [TABLE HAS ...